Gut bacteria can increase the risk of HIV, research revealed
HIV and Gut Health: No link has been reported so far between both HIV and gut health. But recent research indicates how gut bacteria begin to change before HIV infection occurs. These changes are very different from those of ordinary people. The research suggested that prior to infection, men with HIV had anti-inflammatory cytokines and bioactive lipids, both of which are associated with systemic inflammation and may exacerbate persistent infection in the body.
Gut bacteria are affected before HIV
UCLA-led research, published in the peer-reviewed journal eBiomedicine, explores how gut bacteria may have been affected before HIV . According to research, some gut bacteria that are present in normal people are not present in patients with HIV. Also, research shows that HIV infection can be different and different in both people.
Gut microbiome may increase risk of HIV infection
According to Dr. Jennifer Fulcher, assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Infectious Diseases at UCLA, the findings suggest that the gut microbiome may influence the risk of HIV infection.
As such, they examined gut microbiome samples collected before and after infection from 27 men who had sex with men. They then compared those samples to 28 men who had similar behavioral risk factors for infection but did not have HIV. The researchers found that there was little change in the gut bacteria of the infected men during the first year. However, they found that HIV-infected men had a pre-existing difference in gut bacteria compared to their uninfected counterparts before becoming infected. Bacteroides species were few in HIV sufferers. Whereas, it was higher in healthy people.